Duomaiti once again rubbed his face with both hands. After devoutly reciting a passage from the scriptures, he pressed his head deeply into the sand. Only after a long while did he raise it again. The murkiness in his eyes was gone, replaced by clarity, as though that kneeling worship had elevated his spirit.
He rose to his feet and slowly walked over to Zhou Ke. Nodding at him, he said, "Mr. Zhou Ke, let's go back."
"Go back? Go back where?" Zhou Ke asked with a frown. He felt that things had somehow slipped beyond his control.
When it came to the ethnic minorities in the border provinces, especially people with religious beliefs like this, he truly found them exhausting.
At the slightest provocation, they would invoke all sorts of doctrines and spin endless interpretations from them. It was deeply irritating, yet there was nothing he could do. He still had to respect their beliefs.
So he could only ask again, "Make yourself clear. Where are we going back to?"
"Home. The Queen has already warned us not to continue searching for Xiye Ancient City, so we should go home," Duomaiti said seriously.
At that moment, Zhou Hai and the others, who had already buried the dead, saw what was happening and walked over to hear what Duomaiti was saying. They had not expected him to be urging them to go home.
Heh heh!
"Hey! I'm talking to you, old man. You took the money we gave you, but now you're refusing to keep your promise. Are you screwing with us?" Before Zhou Ke could speak, Zhou Hai angrily shouted at Duomaiti.
"Yeah, old man! We've already paid you, and we've come this far. Look at us—we've even lost two men. Yet you're telling us to give up searching